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Month: July 2016

What was the inspiration for your geocaching name?

We like to hike, so we chose Hiker. We went through quite a few variations on the website before we found a trail name that wasn’t already in play. Dana is a musician so I chose BluesHiker. Ironically not Dana’s favorite genre.

Why did you decide to try geocaching?

We were inspired by our son-in-law Jeremy (jkusnetz) on one of our annual family beach trips. We weren’t with him on the hunt, but he came back with such a hilarious story we decided to give it a try.

What cache were you after? What did you expect to find?

Our first find was on the LSU campus. We had to practice stealth and climb under a bridge. It was an adventure; we felt like international spies. We were hooked.

Everyone has a Geocaching “big fish” story about the hunt that was much more than you expected at the start. What is yours?

A few of our most memorable hunts are DNFs. We attended a birthday celebration for my mother and on the way home we decided to attempt a cache in Covington. Our son Joe and his fiance Sarah were with us. We parked in a lot behind a restaurant, but Joe and Sarah decided to stay in the car. We jumped a ditch, crossed a street, jumped another ditch, then proceeded about 100′ into a wooded area. We got to GZ and fanned out, looking for the cache. Our standard operating procedure. Nothing to indicate the horror that awaited us.

There was our normal caching chatter. “Nope.” “Not here.” “Ugh, spider web.” Then Dana yelled “Run! Run! YELLOW JACKETS!” Yes, he had poked a nest of the meanest, most vindictive insects on the planet. I looked up and he already had about a 30′ lead. Luckily for me, Dana was the primary target; I had the B-team. The slackers, I guess, or maybe the old ones and the trainees. We stumbled through bushes, jumped over downed trees, tore through medieval thorns, hit the ground a few times, all the time waving our arms hysterically in a futile attempt to protect ourselves from the winged horde. We burst out of the woods and jumped the first ditch. It was like the scene from the first Indiana Jones movie. START THE ENGINE! START THE ENGINE!

Watching his bloodied parents jumping and flailing and running toward the car, and realizing that they had quite possibly gone mad, Joe jumped into the front seat as we ran across the street and jumped the second ditch. He started the engine, rolled up the windows and locked the doors. As we ran around and around the car in an arm-flailing Chinese fire drill, we began to realize all of these were probably good decisions on his part.

Signaling crudely to Joe through the windows, we indicated that he should move the car to the front of the lot, and we would meet him there. We continued to run around in circles waving our arms and gradually made our way to the car. I hope we provided some entertainment for the diners in the restaurant. By the time we jumped into the car only a few yellow jackets were still following us, and only one got into the car. We quickly whacked that brave soldier. We whacked him good.

Like I said, I had the B-team. Only four stings. But Dana was covered, all over his arms, legs, neck and face. I stopped counting at twenty. He looked like a puffer fish. Luckily neither of us have allergies and there was a CVS in the next block and we stocked up on Benadryl. And that’s why we keep Benadryl in the first-aid kit.

What is your Geocaching EDC (Everyday carry)? What gear do you have to have with you?

Must have – pen, tweezers. I usually keep these in my pocket. In the car just in case – walking sticks, extra logs and zip locks, bug spray, water, germ-x, swag, cache repair kit, first-aid kit.

What is the most memorable thing you’ve seen or found while caching?

The time we accidentally went to the Empire State Building. We attended GeoWoodstock XIII in Maryland, and our daughter and son-in-law and grand babies live in northern Virginia, so we made a nice family visit out of the trip. We wanted to grab a few extra states, like Delaware and New Jersey. That crazy man jkusnetz was driving and he wouldn’t stop at New Jersey. We went straight into Manhattan and found The Empire Strikes Back (GC4D7F) at the top of the Empire State Building. An amazing adventure and it wasn’t even on our radar when we started out that morning.

What cache is on your Bucket List?

No one particular cache right now. We would love to cache old Route 66. Start in Chicago and cache all the way to Santa Monica.

Any other hobbies?

Camping and hiking.

Anything else you would like to say?

Because of our crazy work schedules, we are unable to attend many events. But we get a big kick out of meeting other cachers on the trail.

Rudy was a Sheltie-Dachsund mix who from the time of his rescue went on geocaching adventures continually with TitusLlewelyn & Nerae. He was a familiar face at geo-gatherings and events, and he loved children.

In October 2015, at GC61C31 LGO Fall Fling II, Louisiana Geocaching Organization recognized Rudy the Geo Pup as its first Honorary Member, and awarded posthumously.

What was the inspiration for your geocaching name?

I love to dance and I love Tigger and I have been using dancelovetigger as an email for years so I figured why not a cache name as well.

Why did you decide to try geocaching?

I was a stay at home mom to a 5-month old little boy the first time I heard of geocaching and thought it sounded like something fun to do as a family but it wasn’t until I mentioned geocaching to a friend of mine and she said she and her family had done it before and they had a blast that I decided to go after my first cache.

What cache were you after? What did you expect to find?

I went after a couple of caches that I didn’t find but my first find was GC38AOC-Paint Your Body and I had no idea what to look for but when I found it I thought it was trash at first until I opened it.

Everyone has a Geocaching “big fish” story about the hunt that was much more than you expected at the start. What is yours?

That would be GC11WA0- CCC ’07 Hydrocache. Nannerman13, Forest Ghost and I went after this cache on August 10, 2013. We had to wade across the Comite River which came to about the middle of my thighs and then we took about 30 minutes to get up the bank on the other side because it kept crumbling under Frank and I so Ethan got his climbing ropes and between Frank helping me up using our walking sticks as leverage and Ethan handing me a rope to climb up I was already exhausted. Frank then moved down the bank and we got him up as well. After a short water break we set off and walked for at least another 1.5 hrs till we got to the cache site. The cache was stuck in muck and Frank and Ethan tried for another 1 hr to get the cache out of the muck with no success so finally we left a replacement cache and started our hike back. On the way back we came across my worst fear-A freaking SNAKE but luckily it moved off or I would have climbed Frank’s shoulders and stayed there until we were back to the car. So we finally make it back to the car after wading across the Comite again, logged our caches and the cache owner archived it right after. I have never had a cache adventure this rough since then.

What is your Geocaching EDC (Everyday carry)? What gear do you have to have with you?

I carry a pen with me at all times to sign logs, a flashlight, a grabber, and extension magnet, pliers to get trouble logs out, and replacement logs. During the summer I carry mosquito spray with me at all times and a walking stick in case I need to use it to move wildlife safely out of my way.

What is the most memorable thing you’ve seen or found while caching?

GC2AP6C– Clayton Dinosaur Trackway in Clayton, New Mexico we got to see Dinosaur footprints and tail drags and GC6999– Virtual New Mexico #4 Capulin Volcano where we got to hike to the rim of an extinct volcano.

What cache is on your Bucket List?

I have many but my top 2 are GC5Q44G– Southernmost Geocache in the USA, and a 30 stage multi cache in Central Park- GC17MX1– Bridges and Arches of Central Park.

Anything else you would like to say?

HAVE FUN, get out and explore your world but remember not every cache is for everybody only do what you are capable of doing but don’t be afraid to push your limits to see how much you are capable of. If you can DON’T cache-out your area because you never know when you might need a quick cache near your house. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from other cachers especially the cache owner if you are having problems with their cache. You will make friends with a lot of crazy, genuinely nice people who would be willing to go on cache runs with you so you don’t have to go alone.